Abstract

Demotispa neivai (Bondar) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) causes significant palm oil loss due to the damage it causes to the epidermis when feeding on fruit of oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq. This research was conducted to characterize the biology and natural enemies of D. neivai. The life cycle was studied under laboratory conditions (28.8°C ± 1.2°C and 76.8% ± 6.3% relative humidity); population fluctuation was established in field conditions using a 5-yr-old oil palm plot. Natural mortality factors of D. neivai were recorded over a 22-week period, with sampling of bunches occurring once every 2 weeks over five phenological stages of fruit development. At each sampling, three bunches were selected per stage. The D. neivai life cycle was as follows: the egg stage was 7.1 ± 1.2 d, the larval stage with five instars was 21.9 ± 2.0 d, the pupal stage was 19.6 ± 3.0 d, and the adult stage lasted 268.9 ± 53.1 d. The entire life cycle was, thus, completed in 309.1 ± 54.3 d. The largest D. neivai populations were recorded in oil palm during the bunch-filling phenological stage. Their most important natural mortality factor was the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Sorokin) Metchnikoff, which caused, on average, 25.3% larval mortality.

Abstract

To determine the species of whiteflies infesting Chinese bayberry, Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc. (Fagales: Myricaceae), in China, we collected samples from eight provinces (Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Hubei, Fujian, Guizhou, and Yunnan) from 2014 through 2017. Six species representing six genera of the subfamily Aleyrodinae were identified, namely Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Quaintance), Aleurolobus szechwanensis Young, Aleuroplatus pectiniferus Quaintance & Baker, Cohicaleyrodes caerulescens (Singh), Dialeuropora brideliae (Takahashi), and Parabemisia myricae (Kuwana). Information on the pest status, illustrations, distribution worldwide, and hosts of each of these six species is provided.

Abstract

Increased atmospheric temperatures may negatively affect the ecology, biology, and physiology of insect pollinators by increasing asynchrony between pollinator foraging and flowering of angiosperms. Apis florea F. (Hymentoptera: Apidae) is an important pollinator of vegetables and spice plants in India and, compared to other honeybee species native to Asia, tolerates higher temperatures. We tested the effects of three temperatures (25°C ± 0.5°C, 35°C ± 0.5°C, and 42°C ± 0.5°C) on changes in proboscis extension reflex (PER) in A. florea in response to increasing sucrose concentrations (3%, 10%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 70% w/v). Across the six sucrose concentrations, the mean %PER scores of A. florea exposed to 25°C ± 0.5°C were significantly higher than those at 35°C ± 0.5°C and 42°C ± 0.5°C, although the mean %PER scores at 35°C ± 0.5°C and 42°C ± 0.5°C did not vary significantly. This result suggests a possible reduction in A. florea feeding motivation at temperatures above 25°C, which may negatively affect their winter foraging patterns. This could be especially problematic with rising minimum air temperatures in the semiarid lateritic belts of West Bengal, India.

In terrestrial arthropods, parental care is generally defined as all forms of parental behavior traits that enhance offspring fitness (Smiseth et al. 2012, Pp. 1–17, The evolution of parental care, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford; Trumbo 2012, Pp. 81–100, The evolution of parental care, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford). Female-only parental behavior serves to protect the offspring and increase their fitness by neutralizing specific hazards that might threaten survival or growth, including predators, cannibalistic conspecifics, parasites, pathogens, and desiccation (Mitić et al. 2017, Trop. Nat. Hist., Suppl. 5: 38). In scolopendromorph centipedes, the females remain curled around the brood and a mass

Life Cycle and Natural Enemies of Demotispa neivai (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

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Whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Species Infesting Myrica rubra in China

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Proboscis Extension Reflex in Apis florea (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Response to Temperature

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Improved Semipure Artificial Diet for Ectropis obliqua (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

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A Review of the Bioactivity of Plant Products Against Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

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Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) Functional Response in the Biological Control of Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) Eggs on Rose Foliage Discs

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Array and Sequence of Visual Threats in Three Neotropical Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistes spp.)

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De novo Analysis of Heortia vitessoides (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) Transcriptome and Identification of Putative Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenase Genes

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Parental Care Exhibited by the Centipede Scolopocryptops melanostoma (Scolopendromorpha: Scolopocryptopidae) in Mexico

Seed Treatment with Clothianidin Reduces Bagrada hilaris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Damage to Crucifers

Carabidae (Coleoptera: Harpalinae: Harpalini: Harpalina) from an Upper Cretaceous Rock Deposit at Orapa Diamond Mine in Botswana¹

A Review of the Host Plant Records of Phthorimaea absoluta (=Tuta absoluta) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)¹

Relationship Between Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Population Density and Three of Its Natural Enemies in Commercial Lemon Orchards in Mexico¹

Community Mulch Piles May Contribute to Dispersal of Brachyponera chinensis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)¹

Floral Resources in an Erosion Mitigation Seed Mix Enhance Wild Bee conservation: A Case Study¹